The present invention relates generally to plastic fasteners and more particularly to clips of plastic fasteners.
Plastic fasteners are well known in the art and are commonly used to couple together two or more objects. For example, plastic fasteners have been used to attach merchandise tags to articles of commerce, to couple or to re-couple a button to an article of clothing, to last together shoe uppers, and the like.
Plastic fasteners typically comprise a flexible filament having a first enlargement at one end thereof and a second enlargement at the opposite end thereof. In one common type of plastic fastener (see, for example, FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,872, which patent is incorporated herein by reference), the first enlargement has the shape of a transverse bar and the second enlargement has the shape of a paddle or the shape of a second transverse bar, the transverse bar and the paddle (or second transverse bar) extending in planes parallel to one another. In another common type of plastic fastener (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,004, which patent is incorporated by reference), the first enlargement has the shape of a transverse bar and the second enlargement has the shape of a knob or pin head. In still another common type of plastic fastener (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,183, which patent is incorporated herein by reference), the first enlargement has the shape of a transverse bar or the shape of a plug and the second enlargement has the shape of a socket, said socket being adapted to receive said transverse bar or said plug.
Plastic fasteners of the various types described above are typically molded as parts of a unitary fastener clip. An example of such a fastener clip is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,657, which patent is incorporated herein by reference. The clip of the aforementioned '657 patent includes a plurality of fasteners, each of said fasteners comprising a flexible filament having a transverse bar (or "cross-bar") at one end thereof and a paddle or a second transverse bar (or "cross-bar") at the opposite end thereof, the transverse bar and the paddle (or second transverse bar) of each fastener extending in planes parallel to one another. The fasteners are arranged relative to one another so that the respective transverse bars are spaced apart and oriented side-by-side and parallel to one another and so that the respective paddles (or second transverse bars) are spaced apart and oriented side-by-side and parallel to one another. The clip of the foregoing '657 patent also includes a runner bar, said runner bar extending perpendicularly relative to the respective transverse bars and being connected to each of the transverse bars by a severable connector. The clip of said '657 patent further includes a severable member interconnecting each pair of adjacent paddles (or second transverse bars).
Other examples of fastener clips that comprise one or more runner bars interconnecting plastic fasteners include U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,257, U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,854, U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,375, and U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 34,891, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Fastener clips which comprise a runner bar suffer from certain disadvantages. For example, because the runner bar of a fastener clip is of no use once the fasteners originally attached thereto have been dispensed therefrom, a used runner bar typically constitutes economically and environmentally undesirable waste material. In addition, severed connectors previously used to connect fasteners to a runner bar and still remaining on the runner bar after the fasteners have been detached therefrom often have an acute end which may undesirably snag on and damage merchandise when fasteners from the fastener clip are dispensed into such merchandise with a conventional fastener dispensing tool. Furthermore, the number of fasteners that can be molded into a clip of the type having a runner bar is typically limited by the molding process used to create the fastener clip.
For at least the above reasons, a number of runner bar-less fastener clips, assemblies or stock have been fashioned. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,078, inventor Bone, which issued Aug. 2, 1977, and which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed fastener attachment stock to be separated or divided, e.g., by cutting, severing, rupturing or shearing, to provide a plurality of fasteners each preferably having a substantially H shape. The stock in its most preferred form includes two undivided elongated and continuous plastic side members having a plurality of plastic cross links coupled to and between each of said side members, each of the links being preferably spaced equidistantly apart from each other.
Fastener stock related to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,078 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,123, inventor Russell, which issued Jun. 26, 1984, and which is incorporated herein by reference. The fastener stock of U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,123 differs from that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,078 in that, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,123, the filament has a substantially D-shaped cross-section and provides draft on surfaces extending from the plane to facilitate removal from the mold. Also, the side members are reduced in cross-sectional area between individual fasteners to provide severable connectors to facilitate separation. The connectors join the end-bars of adjacent fasteners end-to-end at a portion of their periphery, preferably having a flat face at said plane extending from said plane on either the same side as the filaments or the opposite side thereof. Preferably, they extend from the same side and the joined end-bars are substantially D-shaped. Where the connectors extend from the opposite side, the section thereof is preferably continued across the joined end-bars to provide a more rounded cross-section for feeding through circular needle bores.
As can be seen, in each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,039,078 and 4,456,123, the enlargements of adjacent fasteners are oriented in an end-to-end relationship. In contrast, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,718, inventors Kato et al., which issued Apr. 28, 1987, and which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a runner bar-less fastener assembly comprising fasteners of the type comprising a flexible filament having a head at one end thereof and a cross-bar at the opposite end thereof, wherein the respective heads and cross-bars of adjacent fasteners are oriented in a parallel, side-by-side, spaced relationship. More specifically, the two side faces of each head are formed so as to protrude or bulge from edges towards a central portion to provide an apex, and adjacent heads are mutually and directly connected through their facing apices in a manner capable of being easily disconnected by cutting. The sides of adjacent cross-bars are connected by a film or a rod that extends longitudinally along a substantial portion of the length of the cross-bars or by a plurality of connectors posts that extend transversely relative to the sides of adjacent cross-bars. As explained in the foregoing '718 patent, the purpose of the aforementioned film, rod and connector posts is to prevent adjacent cross-bars from moving, i.e., pivoting, relative to one another.
In U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 32,332, inventor Kato, which reissued Jan. 20, 1987, there is disclosed a runner bar-less fastener assembly comprising fasteners of the type comprising a flexible filament having a head at one end thereof and a cross-bar at the opposite end thereof, wherein the respective heads and cross-bars of adjacent fasteners are oriented in a parallel, side-by-side, spaced relationship. More specifically, the two side faces of each head are formed so as to protrude or bulge from edges towards a central portion to provide an apex, and adjacent heads are mutually and directly connected through their facing apices in a manner capable of being easily disconnected by cutting. Likewise, the two side faces of each cross-bar are formed so as to protrude at a central portion, and adjacent cross-bars are directly connected through their respective protruding portions. In another embodiment, the aforementioned directly-conjoined heads are replaced with a second set of cross-bars that are directly conjoined in the same manner as described above. According to the foregoing '332 patent, the direct conjoining of adjacent heads to one another and the direct conjoining of adjacent cross-bars to one another, both in the manner described above, is preferable to the use of connector posts for the reason that, when severed, connector posts are said to leave unwanted whisker-like projections on the heads and/or cross-bars to which they are attached.